Final Flashcards
(147 cards)
Jus Gentium
a law of nations
Respublica v De Longchamps (Pre-colonial US court)
Issue: It must be determined on the principles of the law of nations, which form a part of the municipal law of Pennsylvania; and if the offenses charged in the indictment have been committed, there can be no doubt, that those laws have been violated
“This law, in its full extent, is part of the law of this state, and is to be collected from the practice of different nations, and the authority of writers. The person of a public minister is sacred and inviolable. Whoever offers any violence to him, not only affronts the sovereign he represents, but also hurts the common safety and well-being of nations- he is guilty of a crime against the whole world.”
Erga Omes
(crime) against all
Murray v Schooner Charming Betsy (US Supreme Court)
Issue: Is the Charming Betsy subject to seizure and condemnation for having violated a law of the United States?
Charming betsy Rule: “an act of Congress ought never to be construed to violate the law of nations, if any other possible construction remains, and consequently can never be construed to violate neutral rights, or to affect neutral commerce, further than is warranted by the law of nations as understood in this country.”
Treaty of Westphalia- 1648
carved Europe into nation states to bring an end to 30 years war. Brought into the lexicon the idea of sovereignty
Difference between state and nation
Nation= not a recognized state, but has a well defined territory. Examples: Kurdish nation, navajo and cherokee nations.
Difference between federal state and unitary state
Unitary= one unified central government Federal= central government with internal, somewhat autonomous independent states
The equality of states
Each state has the same legal rights as other states. “No principle of general law is more universally acknowledged, than the perfect equality of nations.”
The Montevideo Convention: 4 qualifications for a state
- A permanent population
- A defined territory
- Government
- Capacity to enter into relations with other states
In Re Duchy of Sealand (Administrative Court of Cologne)
Issue: The plaintiff seeks a declaration that he has lost his German citizenship as a result fo his acquisition of the citizenship of the so-called “dutchy of Sealand” from 14 November 1975
A State community must play a more decisive role in serving the other vital human needs of people from their birth to their death. These needs include eduction and professional training, assistance in all the eventualities of life and the provision of subsistence allowances where necessary
Can U.S. courts hear questions from unrecognized states?
No, this leads to political question.
De facto government
“In Fact” (effective control)
De Jure government
“Legal Government”
Disembratio
(dismemberment) in international law means the complete dissolution of the predecessor State and replacement by several successor States.
Republic of Croatia et al. V. Girocredit Ban A.G. der Sparkassen (Supreme Court of Australia)
Issue: question as to whether the assets invested by the National Bank of the SFRY in Austria were held by the National Bank as an independent legal entity or constituted State property (in terms of international law) are to be assessed according to the domestic law of the SFRY
In the case of disembration, state property is to be distributed according to the international principle of “equity”; passing of movable State property to the successor States in “equitable proportions”. Hence, each member of this community has a private law claim to the maintenance of the status quo, thus also a legal claim against the Defendant to desist from any disposal of such property as long as the successor States do not jointly dispose of such funds and assets.
Ex aequo et bono
what’s fair and equitable at the case in hand
The Tinoco Arbitration (Treaty of arbitration)
Issue: (1) Great Britain contends, first, that the Tinoco government was the only government of Costa Rica. (2) Second, that the succeeding government could not by legislative decree avoid responsibility for acts of that government affecting British subjects
The principles of the continuity of states. The state is bound by engagements entered into by government that have ceased to exist; the restored government is generally liable for the acts of the usurper.
Principle of the continuity of states (majority and minority rule)
Majority rule: ‘Clean Slate rule’: started more after WW2 in regards to former colonies
Minority rule: “Continuity” A government that establishes itself and maintains a peaceful de facto administration need not to conform to previous constitution, and non-recognition of the government by other governments does not destroy the de facto status of the government.
Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church of Cyprus v. Goldberg & Feldman Fine Arts, Inc. (U.S. Supreme Court)
Issue: Goldberg argues that several decrees of the TFSC (the entity established in Northern Cyprus by the Turkish military immediately after the 1974 invasion) divested the Church of title to the mosaics.
2 kinds of “de facto governments”
- Is such as exists after it has expelled the regularly constituted authorities from the seats of power and the public offices, and established its own functionaries in their places, so as to represent in fact the sovereignty of the nation. This kind of de facto government is treated as in most respects possessing rightful authority and its legislation is in general recognized
- Is such as exists where a portion of the inhabitants of a country have separated themselves from the parent State and established an independent government. The validity of its acts, both against the parent State and its citizens or subjects, depends entirely upon its ultimate success if it succeed, and become recognized, its acts from the commencement of its existence are uphed as those of an independent nation
Reference re Secession of Quebec (Supreme Court of Canada)
Issue: Does international law give the National Assembly, legislature of government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally. In this regard, is there a right to self-determination under international law that would give the National Assembly, the legislature of government of Quebec the right to effect the secession of Quebec from Canada unilaterally.
“All peoples have the right to self determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” International law grants the right to self-determination to “peoples.” Accordingly, access to the right requires the threshold step of characterizing as a people the group seeking self-determination. It is clear that “a people” may include only a portion of the population of an existing state; the reference to “people” does not necessarily mean the entirety of a state’s population.
Difference between internal and external self-determination
“Internal” self-determination is a peoples pursuit of its political, economic, social and cultural development within the framework of an existing state
“External self determination is the establishment of a sovereign and independent state, the free association or integration with an independent State or the emergence into any other political status freely determined by a people constitute modes of implementing the right of self-determination by that people
Helsinki Final act
refers to peoples having the right to determine “their internal and external political status”, that statement is immediately followed by express recognition that the participating states will at all times act, as stated in the Helsinki Final Act, “in conformity with the purpose and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with the relevant norms of international law, including those relating to territorial integrity of states.”
3 situations that allow for the exercise of external self-determination
(1) Former Colonies
(2) where a people is oppressed, as for example under foreign military occupation
(3) where a definable group is denied meaningful access to government to pursue their political, economic, social and cultural development.
In all 3 situations, the people in question are entitled to a right to external self-determination because they have been denied the ability to exert internally their right to self-determination
Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo (ICJ advisory opinion)
Issue: Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?
In instances of illegality attached to declarations of independence, stem not from the unilateral character of the declarations, but from the fact that they were, or would have been, connected with the unlawful use of force or other egregious violations of norms of general international law.